Renewable gas oil derived from biomass

ABSTRACT

A single pass direct conversion of biomass derived oxygenates to longer chain hydrocarbons is described. The longer chain hydrocarbons include higher naphthene content which is quite useful in the distillate range fuels or more particularly, the jet and diesel range fuels. Naphthenes help the biomass derived hydrocarbons meet product specifications for jet and diesel while really helping cold flow properties.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a non-provisional application which claims benefitunder 35 USC §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/567,287filed Dec. 6, 2011, entitled “Direct Conversion of Biomass Oxygenates toDistillate-Range Hydrocarbons,” which is incorporated herein in itsentirety. This application is also a non-provisional application whichclaims benefit under 35 USC §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 61/637,934 filed Apr. 25, 2012, also entitled “Direct Conversion ofBiomass Oxygenates to Distillate-Range Hydrocarbons,” which is alsoincorporated herein in its entirety.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

None.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the generation of fuels from biomass.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Biomass represents a renewable source for the production of fungibletransportation fuels and fuel oxygenates. Cellulose, hemicellulose, andlignin are the three main constituents of biomass. When the celluloseand hemicellulose portions of biomass are subjected to acid hydrolysis,the sugar polymers get converted to sugar monomers. These monomers, onsubsequent hydrogenation, get converted to C6 and C5 alcohols (sorbitoland xylitol, respectively, along with other polyols and byproducts). Thepolyols formed can be treated through various processes to producehydrocarbon fuels.

Several researchers have attempted to convert biomass derived oxygenates(polyols, ketones etc.) to monoalcohols and C6+ hydrocarbon fuels due totheir higher fuel value. Dumesic and coworkers (US 2009/0124839; Chheda,et al., 2007; Bond, et al., 2010; Gürbüz, et al., 2010) have attemptedto convert biomass derived carbohydrates to hydrocarbon fuels. Recently,Bond, et al., reported a strategy by which aqueous solutions ofγ-valerolactone (GVL), produced from biomass-derived carbohydrates, canbe converted to liquid alkenes in the molecular weight range appropriatefor transportation fuels by an integrated catalytic system that does notrequire an external source of hydrogen (Bond, 2010). In the first step,butene is produced from γ-valerolactone via decarboxylation over asilica-alumina catalyst. In the second step, the butene formed undergoesoligomerization over an acid catalyst such as H-ZSM-5 to form gasolineand/or jet fuel range alkenes. In another effort, Gürbüz, et al.,upgraded mono-functional intermediates produced by catalytic conversionof sugars and polyols over Pt—Re/C catalysts (consisting of alcohols,ketones, carboxylic acids, and heterocyclic compounds) to fuel-gradecompounds using two catalytic reactors operated in a cascade mode(Gürbüz, 2010). These intermediates were further upgraded to hydrocarbonfuels using two different catalytic reactors consisting of threedifferent catalysts (CeZrO_(x) and Pd/ZrO₂ in the first reactor andPt/SiO₂—Al₂O₃ in the second reactor). Li and Huber (2009) reportedsorbitol hydrodeoxygenation over a Pt/SiO₂—Al₂O₃ catalyst below 250° C.and at 450 psig. The reaction produced several oxygenates (alcohols,ketones, and cyclic ethers) in both liquid and vapor phases. It wasproposed that a number of reactions including C—C bond cleavage, C—Obond cleavage, dehydration, and hydrogenation occur during sorbitolhydrodeoxygenation resulting in the observed products. These processeshave capital and operating costs that may be impractical due to multiplesteps and expensive catalysts involved in the biomass conversion.

Sughrue, et al., US-2011-0046423, hydrotreat a mixture of sorbitol anddiesel over a commercial hydrotreating catalyst to produce lighteralkanes and hexanes desirable for gasoline fuels. Lotero, et al.,US-2011-0144396, provide a process comprising steps of a) providing abiomass feedstock; b) de-oxygenating the biomass feedstock to form asolid-intermediate; and c) liquefying the solid-intermediate to producea biocrude. Yao, et al., US-2011-0087060, mitigate potential coking andto moderate the temperature of the catalyst bed while maintaining highconversion of sugar alcohol to hydrocarbon via a hydrotreating process,a diesel feedstock is fed over the reactor catalyst with multipleinjections of polyol feedstock along the reactor. Yao, et al.,US-2011-0152513, provide a process for the conversion of carbohydratesand polyols to hydrocarbons in which the rate of coke formation and theproduction of CO_(x) by-products during the conversion is minimized.Jess, et al., US-2011-0184215, improve biomass pyrolysis where the heatsource is a hot petroleum feedstock, which provides heat and may alsocontribute organic material to the pyrolysis reaction. Anand, et al.,U.S. Ser. No. 13/233,256 filed Sep. 15, 2011, entitled “MoS₂ CATALYSTFOR THE CONVERSION OF SUGAR ALCOHOL TO HYDROCARBONS,” developed asulfur-tolerant methanation catalyst and a sulfur-tolerant methanationprocess.

What is desired is an efficient reaction to convert biomass and biomassbyproducts that requires a minimum number of reactors and produces ahigh yield of hydrocarbon products useful as fuels. It would certainlybe preferred if such processes produced increased distillate range fuelsrather than lighter fraction hydrocarbons which are more challenging toblend into gasoline because of vapor pressure as well as other reasons.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The invention also relates to a renewable gas oil derived at least inpart from biomass where from 0 to 5 weight percent is n-paraffins, from0 to 5 weight percent is iso-paraffins, from 5 to 50 weight percent isnaphthenes, from 0 to 20 weight percent is 1-ring naphthenes, from 0 to30 weight percent is 2-ring naphthenes, from 5 to 30 weight percent is3-ring naphthenes, and from 30 to 85 weight percent is aromatics.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present invention and benefitsthereof may be acquired by referring to the following description takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of the system for producing fuelsdirectly from biomass oxygenates;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of an alternative embodiment of thesystem for producing fuels directly from biomass oxygenates;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a second alternative embodiment ofthe system for producing fuels directly from biomass oxygenates;

FIG. 4 shows a chart of the performance of PtPd catalyst for sorbitolhydrotreating. Conversions reported based on total organic carbon data(1,200 psig, WHSV=0.16 g sorbitol/g cat/h);

FIG. 5 shows a chart of the distribution of inlet carbon (as sorbitol)into vapor, organic, and aqueous phases as a function of temperature;

FIG. 6 shows a chart of the carbon number distribution of the productsfrom the hydrocondensation plus hydrodeoxygenation process;

FIG. 7 shows a hydrocarbon type distribution from early tests usinghydrocondensation in combination with hydrodeoxygenation to make longerchain hydrocarbons;

FIG. 7A shows a hydrocarbon type distribution from later tests usinghydrocondensation in combination with hydrodeoxygenation to make longerchain hydrocarbons where more naphthenes and less paraffins areproduced;

FIG. 8 shows a chart of the time-on-stream behavior of hydrocondensationof sorbitol at 270° C. and 340° C.;

FIG. 9 shows a diagram of the fixed bed reactor used in the lab;

FIG. 10 shows a chart of deactivation of a hydrocondensation catalyst asa function of time-on-stream. Xa is the carbon conversion obtained fromthe Total Organic Carbon method;

FIG. 11 shows a chart comparing boiling point curves of an intermediateproduct (pre-polishing or pre-hydrodeoxygenation) and the finalhydrocarbon product obtained after polishing or afterhydrodeoxygenation;

FIG. 12 is a chart that shows the distribution of inlet carbon tovarious hydrocarbon and carbon oxides;

FIG. 13 shows a chart indicating the variation in sugar alcoholconversion (obtained from HPLC) as a function of TOS;

FIG. 14 is a chart showing the plot of product yield versus 1^(st) bed(PdPt on Silica/Alumina catalyst) weight hourly space velocity. Maximaare observed near 1 h⁻¹ and above 1.6 h⁻¹; and

FIG. 15 is a chart showing that the products of the process aredistillable into fractions. About 70 percent boils off at about 300degrees Fahrenheit and the last 30 percent that boils off at highertemperatures shows that longer chain hydrocarbons are being formed bythe process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning now to the detailed description of the preferred arrangement orarrangements of the present invention, it should be understood that theinventive features and concepts may be manifested in other arrangementsand that the scope of the invention is not limited to the embodimentsdescribed or illustrated. The scope of the invention is intended only tobe limited by the scope of the claims that follow.

Abbreviations used herein include flame ionization detector (FID), gaschromatograph (GC), hydrodeoxygenation (HDO), hydroprocessing (HPC),high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), ignition quality tester(IQT), nitric oxide ionization spectroscopy evaluation (NOISE), outsidediameter (OD), standard cubic centimeter per minute (sccm), simulateddistillation (SIMDIS), total acid number (TAN), thermal conductivitydetector (TCD), total organic carbon (TOC), time-on-stream (TOS), ultralow sulfur diesel (ULSD), and weight hourly space velocity (WHSV).

Currently, hydrocarbon fuels derived from mineral sources such as crudeoil and natural gas, etc. are less costly to produce than fuels derivedfrom renewable or biomass sources. Mineral hydrocarbons have very highenergy density and are found in relatively large deposits sotransportation to a refinery is far less complicated and costly ascompared to handling and transporting raw biomass. Moreover,transportation of feedstocks by large pipelines permits conventionalrefineries to enjoy an economy of scale that cannot be matched bycurrently envisioned commercial scale biomass refineries. Thus, it isgenerally recognized that profitable biomass refineries will have to besimple and efficient to be cost competitive as long as mineral sourcedhydrocarbons are viable and available. “Simple”, in this context,basically means few reactors. “Efficient” generally means highproductivity and low capital and operating costs including low catalystcost.

The present invention includes a process for converting biomass-derivedsugar alcohols and hydrogen directly into a mixture of oxygenates andhydrocarbons via a hydrocondensation reaction in a hydrocondensationreactor. This mixture of oxygenates and hydrocarbons, upon a furtherstep of hydrodeoxygenation, produces a fungible and distillablehydrocarbon product boiling in the range of 50° F.-1000° F. whichgenerally translates into a C5-C25 product slate. This product consistsof light naphtha, heavy naphtha, jet, diesel, and gas oil fractions andtheir boiling ranges and corresponding volumetric yields are shown inTable I. As these fuels are derived from biomass with an expected 50%reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to petroleum-derivedfuels, production of these fuels will earn credits under the RenewableFuel Standard 2 (RFS2) of the US Energy Independence and Security Act of2007 and therefore have value in addition to their basic value as fuelsor other commodities. It is believed that each fraction of thesebiofuels from distillation will be fungible and relatively easily soldto customers for value. It should be noted that with feedstocks having 5or 6 carbon atoms in the carbon chains and hydrocarbon products havingcarbon chains of greater than 6 carbon chains indicates that thefeedstock is being converted to longer chain hydrocarbons. Although, notevery molecule in the feedstock is converted to a longer chainhydrocarbon, some considerable portion of the feedstock is converted tolonger chain hydrocarbons and this provides an advantage in deliveringproducts that are in demand and especially if the products are drop infuels meeting current fuel standards and may be blended with otheron-spec fuels without concern for the resulting blend to becomenon-conforming to the specifications to the fuel.

It has been recognized that more than sugar alcohols may be converted bythe present invention wherein the feed may be described as an oxygenatematerial. Some of the oxygenate material may have a relativelysignificant ratio of oxygen to carbon. Sugar alcohols such as xylitoland sorbitol have one oxygen for every carbon. Other oxygenate materialssuitable for the invention have less. It is expected that oxygenatematerials having an average of at least 0.6 oxygens for each carbon maybe desirable for creating a financially viable process. Higher oxygencontent, such as at least 0.65 oxygens for each carbon, at least 0.70 toone, at least 0.75 to one and at least 0.8 to one are increasinglyattractive.

FIG. 1 shows a system 10 for the conversion of oxygenate material ormaterials to hydrocarbons where the conversion occurs in one step inconversion reactor 20. The oxygenate material is supplied to the reactor20 in an aqueous solution via an oxygenate supply 18. The oxygenatematerial is derived from biomass, but the conversion of biomass tooxygenate material may occur at a distant location from the site ofsystem 10. In that case the oxygenate material is transported to theoxygenate conversion system 10. However, the biomass itself may betransported to a location adjacent the system 10 and converted tooxygenate material at the same site. As shown in dotted lines, whetherat the oxygenate conversion system 10 or remotely, the biomass isconceptually supplied in hopper 11 to a biomass conversion process 15.The biomass and more particularly, the cellulose and hemicellulose ofthe biomass are converted to the oxygenate material in the biomassconversion process 15 and delivered via the oxygenate material supply18. Oxygenate supply 18 may include one or more storage vessels. Thebiomass conversion process 15 may include a number of reactors andsteps. Again, efficiency will suggest a simple and productive biomassconversion process 15 where oxygenate conversion system 10 is able toconvert much of the feedstock to hydrocarbons.

At the center of the oxygenate conversion system 10 is ahydrocondensation reactor 20 including a fixed hydrocondensationcatalyst bed 21. Hydrogen is supplied via hydrogen feedline 19. Suitableknown equipment associated with feeding the oxygenate material and thehydrogen at desired temperature and pressure conditions, as is known inthe art, is shown as condition controlling mechanism 24. The productsexiting the reactor at outlet 26 include an aqueous phase and an organicphase. While the oxygenate material is provided in water, once thehydrocarbons are formed in the reactor 20, they tend to separate fromthe aqueous phase and may be gravity separated in phase separator 35.Such separators are well known. In the first embodiment, the products atthe outlet 26 are separated in separator 35 into an organic phase thatis directed to a hydroprocessing step in reactor 30 or more preferably ahydrodeoxygenation process in reactor 30. The reactor 30 preferablyincludes a fixed bed of hydrodeoxygenation catalyst 31 and includes ahydrogen feedline 29. The hydrodeoxygenation reactor 30 is operatedunder controlled temperature, pressure and rate established byhydroprocessing condition controlling mechanism 34

So, once the organic phase is separated from the aqueous phase in phaseseparator 35 and hydrodeoxygenated in reactor 30, the organic phase isdirected to a distillation column 40 via line 41 where it is separatedinto separate boiling fractions. Distillation columns are well knowntechnology for separating crude oil into fuel fractions such as gasolineand diesel. In the present invention, the organic products separatequite well into light naphtha, heavy naphtha, jet, diesel and gas oil.The heaviest component is the gas oil which comes out near the bottom atgas oil outlet 42. Diesel fuel is the next heaviest and comes out atdiesel outlet 43 while jet comes out at jet outlet 44. Heavy naphthacomes out at heavy naphtha outlet 45 and light naphtha comes out atlight naphtha outlet 46. If any gas is formed in the system, it exits atthe top of the distillation column 40 through gas outlet 47.

Two alternative embodiments of the oxygenate conversion system 10 arealso shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 where similar elements are similarlynumbered but with the addition of “100” or “200” to the referencenumber. So, for example, in FIG. 2, the oxygenate conversion reactor isindicated by the reference number 120 and in FIG. 3 by the referencenumber 220.

Turning to FIG. 2, the oxygenate conversion system 110 is quite similarto the system 10, but one difference is that the entire product streamexiting the hydrocondensation reactor 120 is delivered to thehydrodeoxygenation reactor 130. Although the hydrodeoxygenation reactor130 must be bigger to handle the additional volume of liquid, byremoving oxygen from organic material in the product stream, somemolecules may have shifted to favor the organic stream as compared tothe aqueous phase. The tradeoff is a larger reactor and larger catalystbed and all the associated fixed and operating costs to acquire morepreferred products going into the distillation tower 140 and coming outin the fuel fractions.

In FIG. 3, some process efficiency was sought by eliminating theseparate reactor vessel for the hydrodeoxygenation step by including thehydrodeoxygenation catalyst in the hydrocondensation reactor 220. Thisembodiment would have a similar advantage as the FIG. 2 embodimentwithout having a second separate reactor vessel.

In some early tests with system 10, it was found to be desirable toprovide an additional feedstream of diesel or other middle distillaterange hydrocarbon to reduce coking. However, now, it has been found thateliminating such a feedstream actually improves the product selectivitytoward longer chain hydrocarbons and it is preferred not to co-feed adiesel range hydrocarbon with the oxygenate material. There may beoptions to include other co-feeds with the oxygenate material fortemperature control or other reasons, but to the extent that suchco-feeds might include hydrocarbons, they will be C14− and perhaps evenlighter such as C10-hydrocarbons or even as light as hexane. However,while it is believed to be disadvantageous to co-feed heavy hydrocarbons(C10+) with the oxygenate, injecting hydrocarbons such as naphtha, jet,diesel or gas oil for temperature control at various locations along thereactor may provide an efficient and effective method for reactortemperature control. Such hydrocarbons injected downstream in thereactor tend not to interfere with distillate selectivity orproductivity of longer chain hydrocarbons. Temperature control may alsoinclude recycling products from the hydrocondensation reactor.

In the system 10 of the present invention, it is seen that it isrelatively simple, while produces a range of hydrocarbon products thatincludes a higher percentage of naphthenes or cycloalkanes in itsproduct slate. These are fully saturated hydrocarbons that comprise one,two or three rings often with side chains. Naphthenes are veryattractive for diesel and jet fuels as naphthenes with requisiteportions of normal paraffins and isoparaffins provides middle distillatefuels with high cetane ratings (which is like octane to gasoline) thatmeet specifications and are also free flowing liquids at very coldtemperatures. To the extent that other biomass conversion systems areavailable to produce hydrocarbons from biomass, such systems producefuels with more light hydrocarbons, less naphthenes and considerablymore aromatics as compared to the distillate fuel products of thepresent invention. High molecular weight paraffins provide high cetane,but have poor cold flow properties. Aromatics are generally notdesirable in higher concentrations for jet and diesel (above 25 weightpercent exceeds specifications). A combination of paraffins with highernaphthene content seems to provide a very attractive distillate fuel orfuel blendstock. To provide an understanding of the fuels created bythis simple oxygenate conversion system, the fractions are shown belowin Table I along with their general boiling range and a simpleprojection of the volumetric yield of each fuel.

TABLE I Basic Fractions Boiling range Volumetric yield Potential marketFraction (° F.) (%) destinations Light  50-170 50 Gasoline blendstocknaphtha Chemicals and Solvents Heavy 170-310 15 Gasoline blendstocknaphtha Jet 310-565 15 (some amounts of this Drop-in volume may beshifted into the diesel product) Diesel 310-680 30 (note that up to halfof Drop-in this volume may be directed into jet product) Gas oil 680-1000  5 FCC feedstock Hydrocracker feedstock Residual marine fuelblendstock

The volumetric yields show that about half of the organic fraction islight naphtha. While the product slate would be more valuable if itcould be shifted to more products that are as heavy as jet, diesel orgas oil, volume measurements tend to understate the ratio of carbon inthe heavier fractions. Also, to the extent that about half of theproducts are heavy naphtha and heavier or that about 30% is jet anddiesel appears to be a big step toward a desirable result as compared tomost bio-sourced materials ending up in light naphtha or hydrocarbongases. Getting 30% of the products into jet and diesel in a single stepconversion is a notable advantage of the present system.

It should be noted that current plans for bio-sourced fuels is to blendit with petroleum sourced fuels up to a maximum of 50% bio-sourced fuelin the final fuel delivered to the consumer. As such, thecharacteristics of the consumer fuel will be influenced no more thanhalf by the bio-sourced fuel. So, depending on the naphthene content ofthe petroleum component of the final fuel, the high naphthene content inthe bio-sourced fuel may be diluted by at least fifty percent by thepetroleum component of the final fuel and maybe more.

As noted above, distillate fuels are likely to be the most attractivehydrocarbon products simply because these products currently hold higherprices in the market place on a weight basis. Jet fuel has very detailedand stringent standards, but is comprised of hydrocarbon moleculeshaving carbon chains where the molecules have between about 8 or 9 up toabout 16 carbons each. Commercial airline jets in the US use Jet A,while internationally the standard is Jet A1. The US military has itsown standard designated as JP-8. Diesel overlaps with jet fuel at thelow end of the diesel fuel fraction and is also saleable if it meets avery detailed specification, generally known as Number 2 Diesel. Dieselis comprised of hydrocarbon molecules with carbon chains where the totalnumber of carbons in the molecules numbers between about 8 and 21carbons for each molecule.

In addition to producing more attractive distillate fuels, it isbelieved that gas oil from the present invention, sometimes also calledfuel oil, will also be attractive compared to conventional gas oils. Gasoil is a heavier fraction than diesel having up to about 25 carbons, andit is believed that high naphthene content in gas oil will be at leastas attractive as conventional gas oil and potentially more attractivesuch as for its cold flow properties. In general, “attractive” suggeststhat there may be a price premium for the product, although the pricepremium may be small and variable. As with any refinery, it is quiteimportant that the products of the refinery are saleable, even if someproducts are quite discounted, as long as the return for the full rangeof products exceeds the costs. But having unsalable products that mustbe disposed at loss, especially if very costly to dispose, is very, veryunattractive.

The last fraction, but actually the lightest fraction is naphtha. Fullrange naphtha consists of a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules generallyhaving between about 5 up to about 10 sometimes up to 12 carbon atoms.Light naphtha typically consists of molecules with 5-6 and maybe 7carbon atoms. Heavy naphtha consists of molecules with 6 or 7 carbons upto 10 to 12 carbons. Naphtha is preferably used as feedstock for highoctane gasoline although it has other uses such as for producing olefinsin steam crackers, and as a solvent. In the present invention, theproduction of naphtha appears to fit with currently marketed and soldnaphtha so it is believed that naphtha production will be readilymarketed and sold.

Turning back to the process, biomass that is converted to oxygenatematerial for the invention includes a variety of feedstocks comprisingoxygenates. Biomass may be derived from any biological material thatcontains sugars, carbohydrates, lignins, fatty acids, proteins, oils,and other components. Biomass may include materials from forest residues(such as dead trees, branches, leaves and tree stumps), yard clippings,wood chips, wood fiber, corn fiber, sugar beets, sugar cane, corn syrup,algal cultures, bacterial cultures, fermentation cultures, and the like.In one embodiment, biomass is derived from waste products and low valueresidues remaining after other processes such as paper manufacturingwaste, farming residues, food manufacturing waste, meat processingwaste, municipal solid waste, animal waste, biological waste, andsewage. In another embodiment, biomass is derived from plant materialssuch as miscanthus, switchgrass, hemp, corn, poplar, willow, sorghum,sugarcane, and a variety of tree species, ranging from eucalyptus to oilpalm (palm oil). Oxygenates may be generated from biomass throughsolubilization, acid hydrolysis, pyrolysis, and other liquefactionmethods used to convert solid biomass and large molecules to smalleraqueous and organic liquids.

While there is substantial diversity of biomass that may be converted tooxygenate material for the present invention, there is also quite a widevariety of oxygenate materials that may then be used as feedstock thepresent invention. The oxygenate material provided by the biomassconversion process 15 may potentially comprise oxygenates includingcarbohydrates, sugars, pentoses, hexoses, monosaccharides, dextrose,glucose, α-D-glucopyranose, β-D-glucopyranose, α-D-glucofuranose,β-D-glucofuranose, galactose, disaccharides, levoglucosan, sucrose,manose, xylose, isosorbide, lactose, maltose, fructose, cellobiose,melibiose, raffinose, glyceraldehyde, erythritol, xylitol, sorbitol,arabitol, mannitol, dulcitol, maltitol, arabinitol, isosorbide,glycerol, glycerin, alcohol, methanol (MeOH), ethanol (EtOH), isopropylalcohol (IPA), butanol (BuOH), n-butanol, t-butanol, ethers, methyltert-butyl ether (MTBE), tertiary amyl methyl ether (TAME), tertiaryhexyl methyl ether (THEME), ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE), tertiaryamyl ethyl ether (TAEE), diisopropyl ether (DIPE),hydroxymethyl-tetrahydrofuran or tetrahydro-2-furfuryl alcohol (THFA),methyl-tetrahydrofuran, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran,3-methyltetrahydrofuran, tetrahydrofuran, diols, methanediol (H₂C(OH)₂),ethylene glycol, propane diols, 1,2-propanediol, 1,3-propanediol,butanediols, 1,2-butanediol, 1,3-butanediol, 1,4-butanediol,2,3-butanediol, pentane diols, 1,2-pentanediol, 1,5-pentanediol,octanediol, 1,8-octanediol, etohexadiol, p-menthane-3,8-diol,2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol, aldehydes, propanal, butanal,2,5-furan-dicarboxyaldehyde, carboxylates, acetic acid, oxopropanoicacid, acrylic acid, levulinic acid, succinic acid,2,5-furan-dicarboxylic acid, aspartic acid, glucaric acid, glutamicacid, itaconic acid, acetylacrylic acid, 4-O-Me-glucuronic acid,gluconic acid, xylonic acid, esters, levuninate esters, lactones, valerolactone, α-methylene-γ-valerolactone, angelilactones, trisaccharides,oligosaccharides, polysaccharides, starch, and the like includingderivatives, dimers, trimers, and polymers. Polyols include glycerol,sorbitol, xylitol, and the like. Oxygenate feedstocks consist of one ormore oxygenates in an aqueous solution. Liquefaction of biomasstypically produces feedstocks containing sorbitol and xylitol. Oxygenatefeedstocks consist of one or more oxygenates in an aqueous solution.Feedstocks may contain from about 50 to about 98% v/v oxygenates. In oneembodiment an oxygenate feedstock contains between 20% up to 98%sorbitol, xylitol and mixtures of sorbitol and xylitol. Althoughsorbitol feedstock comprises sorbitol and aqueous solution, additionaloxygenates, polyols, oils, and sugars are present after liquefaction.Many isomers, polymers, and soluble sugars are present in the aqueousliquefaction fraction. Hydrotreating will convert many of these tovaluable fuel products. Preferred oxygenate feedstocks to reactor 20 aresugar alcohols, sugars, sugar derivatives, hydrogenated sugars,hydrogenated sugar derivatives, glycerol, tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol,isosorbide, sorbitans, and C3 to C6 polyols and any combination thereof.

The hydrocondensation catalyst in catalyst bed 21 may be selected from avariety of materials including noble metal catalysts on a support orvarious supports, promoted noble metal catalysts, including specificnoble metal catalysts like platinum-palladium (Pt—Pd) catalysts,germanium-containing zeolite catalyst, nickel-tungsten (Ni—W), and thelike, or catalysts containing oxidation resistant noble metals fromgroups VIIb, VIII, and Ib of the second and third transition series,including rhenium, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, osmium,iridium, platinum, gold and the like. Other oxidation resistant metalsinclude mercury, titanium, niobium, tantalum, tungsten, and the like.Noble metal aromatization catalysts are available from a variety ofcommercial producers including AKZO-NOBEL®, ALBEMARLE®, AXENS, GENTAS,HALDOR TOPSøE AS, Johnson Matthey, W.R. GRACE & CO., which produce manyhydrotreating catalysts like the HALDOR TOPSøE TK-335, TK-339, TK-341,and TK-351, Johnson Matthey PRICAT PD and PT/Alumina, KETJENFINE® (KF)200-A, ALBEMARLE® KF-200 and KF-201, AXENS LD catalyst family,Grace-Davison ALCYON™, and similar catalysts. Noble metal catalysts mayalso be synthesized as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,013,173, U.S. Pat.No. 6,884,340, U.S. Pat. No. 6,872,300, and the like. Other noble metalcatalysts may be purchased or synthesized either as single metal orbi-metal catalysts including Pt/SiO₂—Al₂O₃, PtPd/SiO₂—Al₂O₃,Pd/SiO₂—Al₂O₃, Pt/SiO₂, PtPd/SiO₂, Pd/SiO₂, Pt/Al₂O₃, PtPd/Al₂O₃,Pd/Al₂O₃, Pt/Zirconia, PtPd/Zirconia, Pd/Zirconia, and the like. It hasalso been found that base metals will work as hydrocondensationcatalysts including Ni, Mo, Co, W and combinations thereof includingbimetallic catalysts. These catalysts may be supported on Al₂O₃, SiO₂,zeolite, or other support.

The hydrodeoxygenation catalyst is typically a base metal catalyst andthere are a variety of available catalysts that comprise Ni, Mo, Co, Wand combinations thereof the like on Al₂O₃, SiO₂, zeolite, or othersupport. Hydrodeoxygenation catalysts may contain metals andcombinations of metals with molybdenum, tungsten, cobalt, or nickel.Hydrodeoxygenation catalysts are commercially available from a varietyof sources including BASF Ni catalyst, NIPPON KETJEN Co. like the KF,KG, KFR and KAS catalysts, AXENS HR catalyst family, HALDOR TOPSøE ASlike the TK catalyst family, ALBEMARLE®, W.R. GRACE & CO., AXENS,GENTAS, and others. Refining catalysts are also readily available from avariety of other sources including ADVANCED REFINING TECHNOLOGIES (ART),AMERICAN ELEMENTS, EURECAT, FISCHER, HEADWATER, Johnson Matthey, PGMCATALYSTS & CHEMICALS, SIGMA, and other chemical suppliers. Catalystsmay be supported on an alumina, silica, titania, zeolite, carbon,plastics, ceramics, or other support materials. Catalysts may bemicrosized, nanosized, fluidized or other catalyst forms dependent uponthe reactor size, shape and conditions under which the reaction is run.

EXAMPLES

All gases described herein are commercially available and may bepurchased from a variety of suppliers. Unless otherwise specified, gasesused were ultra-high purity gases from AIRGAS®.

Example 1 Oxygenate Hydrocondensation

In one embodiment, a silica-alumina supported platinum-palladiumhydrocondensation catalyst (Pt/Pd catalyst) was used to convertoxygenates to hydrocarbon fuels. A 70 wt % sorbitol in water mixture wasdiluted to 40 wt % sorbitol using distilled water. To ensure a safeoperation, a ventilated enclosure encased the entire fixed-bed reactor(FIG. 9). Because sorbitol hydrotreating reaction required 1,200 psig,the reactor setup had several safety features. All gas cylinders and thereactor had pressure relief valves set at 1,450 psig. The ISCO™ syringepump had an in-built pressure control system to cease pumping when thepressure exceeded 1,400 psig. The pump also had a pressure relief valveset at 1,450 psig. The reactor furnace controller had an override set at500° C. Handling of all catalyst samples and separation of collectedliquid products was conducted in a ventilated hood.

The model biocrude hydrotreating was conducted in a fixed-bed reactorsystem (FIG. 9). A platinum-palladium noble metal catalyst extrudatediluted with alundum was packed in a ¾″ OD reactor. The catalyst wasreduced in the presence of hydrogen by following a standard reductionprocedure. Briefly, the reactor temperature was increased from roomtemperature to 120° C. at 2° C./min and held at 120° C. for 2 h toremove moisture. The hydrogen flow was 100 Nm³/m³ cat/h. The pressurewas increased to 145 psig, and the temperature was increased to 350° C.at 0.3° C./min, then to 450° C. at 0.2° C./min. The catalyst was reducedat 450° C. for 16 h. Following reduction, the temperature was decreasedto 50° C. at 2° C./min.

After reduction, the catalyst was wetted with the sorbitol-water feedintroduced using an ISCO™ syringe pump for 2 hours at a liquid hourlyspace velocity of 3 h⁻¹. Following this step, the reactor temperaturewas increased to the desired value, and the pressure was increased to1,200 psig. The reaction feed consisted of a 40 wt % sorbitol solutionin water and 250 sccm of hydrogen. No diesel was co-fed with sorbitol inthese experiments. The weight hourly space velocity used in allexperiments was 0.16 g sorbitol/g cat/h. For each data point, productswere collected for at least 24 h to achieve constant conversions.

The off-gases from the reactor were analyzed using an AGILENT® 6890 GCequipped with two detectors (TCD and FID) and two columns (a CARBOXEN™column for permanent gases and HP-1 column for the hydrocarbons).

The liquid products collected were split into organic and aqueous phasesby gravity separation. The aqueous phase was analyzed for unreactedsorbitol and intermediate oxygenates by the total organic carbon (TOC)method and by HPLC.

The organic phase was analyzed using an AGILENT® 7890 GC equipped withFID and a HP-1 column for hydrocarbon analysis. For detailedcharacterization, the organic product was analyzed using GC-MS TOF,GC-Atomic Emission Detector (AED), Detailed Hydrocarbon Analysis (DHA),simulated distillation by ASTM D 2887 (SIMDIS), Karl-Fischer titrationfor water, and combustion for elemental analysis.

Above 260° C., the carbon conversion calculated by total organic carbon(TOC) method increased significantly with temperature, as shown in FIG.4. About 60% conversion was achieved at 260° C., and the value increasedto 98% at 340° C. At all data points, the mass balance was >92%. Theproduct darkened from pale yellow to yellow on exposure to room lightand air. Products collected at higher temperatures did not show anycoloration. GC analysis indicated the presence of hydrocarbons largerthan hexane in both liquid and vapor phases. The overall C6+ selectivity(hexane and hydrocarbons heavier than hexane) was 60-70%, C5−selectivity was 25-35%, and CO₂ selectivity was 5%.

Carbon distribution between aqueous, organic, and vapor phases as afunction of temperature is shown in FIG. 5. From the figure, it isobserved that at 260° C., almost 40% of the inlet carbon (as sorbitol)was in the aqueous phase while about 30% was in organic and vaporphases. With increasing temperature, the carbon in the aqueous phasedecreased, and the carbon in vapor phase increased. The carbon in theorganic phase showed a maximum at 270° C. The carbon distribution valuesin vapor phase are underestimated due to the lack of GC capability tocompletely analyze vapor phase products. Overall, >80% of inlet carbonwas converted to organic molecules in liquid and vapor phases at 340° C.

The liquid products from Example 1 are separated into an aqueousfraction and an organic fraction. The organic fraction is subjected to aseparation based on boiling fractions in a distillation tower into thefive fractions described above

The density of all organic samples was between 0.65-0.95 g/cc. Oxygencontent was measured using elemental analysis, GC-Atomic EmissionDetector (GC-AED), and Karl-Fischer titration. Elemental analysis andGC-AED indicated the concentration of oxygen in the organic phasedecreased from an inlet value of 52 wt % to 23 wt % at 260° C. and 6.5wt % at 340° C. Of the 23 wt % oxygen remaining after reaction at 260°C., 17 wt % was oxygenates (indicated by GC-AED) and 5 wt % wasdissolved water in the organic phase (indicated by Karl-Fischertitration). At 340° C., oxygenates were the main source of oxygen as theconcentration of oxygen from water was 0.1 wt % (see Table II).

TABLE II Temperature dependence of oxygen concentration in the organicphase of the hydrocondensation conversion calculated using GC- AED,Karl-Fischer titration (for water), and combustion method. Temperature Ofrom O from Karl-Fisher O from Combustion (° C.) AED (wt %) titration(wt %) Method (wt %) 260 17 4.2 23 340 2.5 0.1 6.5

Organic products collected for Example 1 at 260° C., 270° C., and 340°C. were analyzed by GC-MS to identify the oxygenates and hydrocarbons.Table III lists oxygenates and Table IV lists hydrocarbons present atconcentrations above 0.4 wt %.

TABLE III Oxygenates present in organic products at 260° C., 270° C.,and 340° C. 260° C. 270° C. 340° C. Compound (wt %) (wt %) (wt %)1-butanol 1.2 — — c/t-2,5-dimethyl-THF 2.0 0.5 — 2-methyltetrahydropyran3.0 1.3 — 3-methyltetrahydropyran 8.0 4.5 1.2 1-pentanol 2.5 1.5 —3-hexanone 11.9 7.8 1.5 2-hexanone 4.8 2.2 0.8 1-hexanol 21.3 15.1 —Hexanoic acid 2.4 3.7 — Oxygenate content measured by GC-MS.

Oxygenates dominated at low temperature with hexanol being the mostabundant product (22 wt %) at 260° C. followed by hexanone (17 wt %),methyl tetrahydropyran (11 wt %), pentanol and its derivatives (6 wt %).The hydrocarbons consisted of C6-C18 n-paraffins, iso-paraffins,naphthenes, and aromatics. The product distribution shifted to C5-C18hydrocarbons at 340° C. Oxygenate concentration reduced by 85% comparedwith reaction at 260° C. Oxygenates at the highest concentration werehexanone (2.3 wt %) and tetrahydropyran (1 wt %).

TABLE IV Hydrocarbons present in organic products at 260° C., 270° C.,and 340° C. 260° C. 270° C. 340° C. Compound (wt %) (wt %) (wt %) Hexane1.1 3.3 3.2 Heptane — — 0.4 Octane — 0.7 1.6 Nonane 0.6 1.0 2.4 Decane0.1 1.5 2.6 Undecane 0.2 1.5 5.3 Dodecane 0.4 2.8 2.2 C13-C18n-paraffins 0.1 0.4 0.8 C6-C12 Iso paraffins, 20-30 30-40 70 naphthenes,and aromatics Hexane and pentane were also present in the gas phase

The observed low concentrations of aldehydes may be due to the dominantrole of decarbonylation and/or rapid hydrogenation of aldehydes toprimary alcohols. Low molecular weight alcohols, such as ethanol,propanol, and butanol, observed at lower temperatures (260-270° C.) maybe formed via C—C hydrogenolysis of isosorbide followed by dehydrationand C—O hydrogenolysis reactions. According to the GC-MS data, primaryalcohols are dominant over secondary alcohols. This may be the result ofeasier dehydration of secondary alcohols over primary alcohols. Withincreasing temperature, the chemistry becomes more complex due toactivation of other chemical transformations such as cracking.Isosorbide thermal decomposition initiates at T>270° C. The increase inthe distillate fraction at 340° C. may be a combination of olefinoligomerization, aldol condensation, etherification of alcohols, andaromatization leading to heavy alkyl aromatics. A variety of distillatesmay be produced by modifying the oxygenate feedstock, temperature,residence time, and other reaction parameters. Dependent upon feedstock,market needs, and equipment parameters, different fuel range distillatesmay be produced.

Example 2 Hydrocondensation Plus Hydrodeoxygenation

As described with respect to FIGS. 1 through 3, it was recognized thatthe organic products from single stage sorbitol hydrotreating over Pt/Pdcatalyst had significant quantities of undesirable oxygenates when thereaction temperature was 270° C. or less. Thus, Example 2 provides datafor hydrocondensation in combination with hydrodeoxygenation toeliminate all oxygen. A mixture of oxygenates and hydrocarbons wascollected by hydrotreating 40 wt % sorbitol over Pt/Pd catalyst at 270°C. This mixture was hydrodeoxygenated in a second stage over either thesame sample of Pt/Pd catalyst or conventional hydrodeoxygenationcatalyst at 340° C., 1,200 psig, and 0.6 h⁻¹ (WHSV).

Table V shows density and elemental composition of products. Combinedhydrocondensation with hydrodeoxygenation provides improved the productquality. The density of organic products decreased to 0.72 from 0.85while the carbon content increased to 85 wt % from 73 wt %. Oxygen inthe product was reduced from 14 wt % to less than 0.2 wt %. Oxygenoriginating from oxygenates was 0.06 wt % (detected by GC-AED foroxygen) while that from water was 0.01 wt %. This divergence wasprobably due to measurement error.

TABLE V Product quality obtained after hydrocondensation alone andhydrocondensation with hydrodeoxygenation. O from Temp Density C H Ooxygenates Process ° C. g/cc wt % wt % wt % wt % Hydrocondensation 2700.85 73 12.7 14.3 14 Hydrocondensation 270 0.72 84.8 14.9 <0.02 0.06Plus Hydro- & deoxygenation 340

Detailed hydrocarbon analysis (DHA) of the product identifiedhydrocarbons and estimated fuel properties. A distribution of productsas a function of carbon number and type of hydrocarbons is shown inFIGS. 6, 7 and 7A. The product has hydrocarbons in the range of C5-C14,as shown in FIG. 6. Because DHA is a technique for analysis of gasolineboiling compounds, all hydrocarbons with carbon number greater than 14are represented as C14+ in FIG. 6. FIG. 7 (which is data from earlydevelopment of the process) indicates that the product was mainlyparaffinic with n-hexane being the predominant compound (30 wt %). Theremaining 70 wt % of the product had C7-C14 paraffins, iso-paraffins,naphthenes, and aromatics. No oxygenates or olefins were detected byDHA. Furthermore, the final product did not have any sulfur or benzene.GC-MS analysis confirmed these results. Data from later testing shown inFIG. 7A shows high naphthene make with correspondingly reducedparaffins, iso-paraffins and aromatics. As described above, highnaphthene make is potentially attractive in jet, diesel and gas oil.

Polishing may be accomplished with a variety of hydrodeoxygenationcatalysts. Differences in oxygen removal are negligible with differenthydrodeoxygenation catalysts (Table VI). In all cases, polishing withhydrodeoxygenation catalysts reduced oxygen content from ˜14 wt % toless than 1 wt %. Oxygen levels below 0.5 wt %, including less thanapproximately 0.25 wt % are sufficient for stable fuel rangehydrocarbons. In many cases oxygen levels were well below 0.05 wt % withpolished hydrocarbons having less than approximately 0.04% or 0.02%. Thepolished hydrocarbons make an ideal hydrocarbon fuel and werecharacterized to determine fuel properties.

TABLE VI Polishing with hydrodeoxygenation catalysts Polishing stepOxygen in temperature WHSV the product Catalyst ° C. per h wt % HPC - 1340 0.4 <0.02 HPC - 2 345 0.6 0.23 HPC - 3 350 0.4 <0.4

Fuel properties for naphtha are shown in Table VII. The DHA analysis ofthe gasoline fraction indicated that n-pentane and n-hexane accountedfor 20% of that fraction, which resembles natural gasoline. Theremaining 80% of the gasoline fraction was composed of paraffins,iso-paraffins, naphthenes, and aromatics. No olefins were present in theproduct, and the amount of benzene present was below the detectionlimit. The lack of benzene is important because future gasolineregulations restrict the amount of benzene in gasoline. Other propertiesof this fraction are shown in Table VII. As seen from this table,density, heat of combustion, and total acid numbers meet or exceedspecifications.

TABLE VII Fuel properties of the Naphtha Fraction from Example 2Hydrocondensation. Naphtha Specification Paraffins (wt %) 35 Isoparaffins (wt %) 30 Naphthenes (wt %) 14 Aromatics (wt %) 9 Avg. Mol.Wt. 103 Density (D4052@60° F., g/cc) 0.74 <0.9 SIMDIS D2887 T10, ° F.144 T50, ° F. 350 170-250 T90, ° F. 385 250-365 Sulfur (ppm) <1Oxidative Stability by D525, min >300 Gross heat of combustion (Btu/lb)20304 ~20000 Net heat of combustion (Btu/lb) 19026 TAN by D664 (mgKOH/g) 0.11 ~0.1 Copper strip corrosion by D130 1a Gum by D381(unwashed), mg/100 ml <4

As demonstrated in Table VII these fuels have a distributed range ofparaffins, iso-paraffins, naphthenes, and aromatics. With an overalldensity of approximately 0.75 and low sulfur content, renewable fuelspurified using the techniques described herein are ideal for use asgasoline engine fuels. Unlike ethanol and other alcohol based fuels,these renewable fuels have a high heat of combustion and deliverequivalent energy to that of traditionally purified hydrocarbons.

A renewable jet fuel has been refined and isolated using the procedures,methods and systems described herein. This fuel has favorable propertiesfor a jet fuel and may be used as a fungible substitute for fuelsobtained from other hydrocarbon resources. Table VIII further confirmsthat each fuel property is within the standards set for commercial Jet Aand JP-8 standards. Note that freeze point for the renewable fuel iswell below the standard required for Jet A and JP-8. Several experimentsbased on described Example 2 produced several jet samples as shown asSample A Jet, Sample B Jet and Sample C Jet where hydrodeoxygenation andcutpoints in the distillation column created jet products with slightlydifferent properties. The specifications for Jet A and JP-8 are alsoshown. In every property measured the Renewable jet fuel meets orexceeds the Jet A standard required for commercial fuels.

TABLE VIII Jet Fuel Properties Sample Sample A Sample B Sample C Jet JetJet Jet A JP-8 Oxygen by AED 0.07 0.375 nd Gravity by D1298, deg API36.95 38.17 41.06 37 (min) 37 (min) 51 (max) 51 (max) Density @60 F. byD4052, 0.8393 0.833 0.8192 0.775 (min) 0.775 (min) g/cc 0.84 (max) 0.84(max) Total acidity by D3242, <0.05 (D664) <0.05 0.1 (max) 0.015 (max)mgKOH/g Freeze point by D5972, deg C. −39.2 −70 −39.9 max −40 max −47Gum, existent by D381, 2 7 (max) 7 (max) mg/100 ml Sulfur by D2622, ppmw2 (by <1 440-2900 0.3 (max) XRF) sulfur wt % mercaptan by 0.0001 0.003(max) 0.002 (max) D3227, wt % Color, Saybolt by D156 Min +16 ReportCorrosion, CST 2 hr @ 212 F. 1a 1b 1 (max) 1 (max) by D130 MSEP by D394898 85 (min) 80 (min) Hydrogen content by D3701, 13.44 14.15 13.4 (min)wt % Aromatics by D1319, vol % 0 (By 25 (max) 25 (max) D5186) Olefins byD1319, vol % 0 (By 5 (max) D6550) Net heat of comb by D3338, 18,38618,561 18671 18,400 (min) 18,400 (min) btu/lb Flash point by D56, deg F.149 (D93) 140 (D93) 126.5 110 (min) 100 (min) Viscosity at −20 C. byD445, 2.418 5.996 8 (max) 8 (max) cSt Viscosity at 104 F. by D445, 1.8871.562 1.3 (min) cSt 1.9 (max) Conductivity by D2624, pSm 2 Report 150(min) 600 (max) Thermal stability by D3241 (JFTOT) Pressure drop, mm Hg0 25 (max) 25 (max) Tube deposit code <1 <3 <3 Distillation by D86, vol% deg F. IBP 366.8 344.5 336 Report T10 393.6 372.9 368.8 400 (max) 401(max) T50 429.8 417.2 411.6 Report Report T90 507.9 515.5 501.8 550(max) Report End point 537.8 548.6 548.1 572 (max) 572 (max) Residue 1.21.3 1.2 1.5 (max) 1.5 (max) Loss 0.4 0.6 0.6 1.5 (max) 1.5 (max)Combustion Smoke point by D1322, mm 31 25 (min) 25 (min) OR Smoke pointby D1322, mm 19 31 18 (min) 18 (min) AND Naphthalene by D1840, vol %0.52 (wt %) 0 3 (max) 3 (max) Carbon residue on 10% <0.10 0.15 (max)bottoms by D524 Ash by D428, wt % <0.001 0.001 0.01 (max) Cetane indexby D4737 39 40 43 40 (min) Report Particulate by D5452, mg/L 0.0006Report 1 (max) Appearance by D4176 Clear & Clear & Clear & Clear & Clear& bright bright bright bright bright Karl Fischer water by 39 70 ReportD6304, ppm Water reaction by D1094 Volume change, ml 0 0 ReportSeparation rating 2 1 2 (max) Interface rating 1b 1 1b (max) 1b (max)Lubricity by D6079 HFRR, 632.5 micron Halides by IC, ppmw Chloride <0.1Simulated distillation by D2887, wt % deg F. IBP 293.6 244 T10 360.7335.3 T50 426.6 410.7 T90 537.4 530.1 End point 580.4 596.4 NOISEParaffins, wt % 3.3 2.5 Iso paraffins, wt % 9 7.3 One ring naphthenes,wt % 36 41.6 Two ring naphthenes, wt % 32.5 42.5 Three ring naphthenes,wt % 6.3 5.8 Total naphthenes 74.8 89.9 Aromatics, wt % 13 0.3 C/H ratio0.53 0.52 Avg. molecular weight 176.4 172.3 Combustion C 85.58 85.6785.83 H 13.39 13.02 13.58 N 0 0 0 S 0 0 0 Metals analysis by UOP 389method Conc. Metal (ppmw) Al 0.03 Ca 0.03 Co <0.02 Cr <0.02 Cu <0.02 Fe0.11 K <0.02 Mg 0.02 Mn <0.02 Mo <0.02 Na 0.04 Ni <0.02 P 0.03 Pb <0.02Pd <0.02 Pt <0.02 Sb <0.02 Sr <0.02 Ti <0.02 V <0.02 Zn 0.02 *MSEP:Micro Separometer test to determine water separation characteristic ofkerosene fuel

Table IX shows fuel properties of sample diesels produced by Example 2.The NOISE analysis of the diesel fraction indicates that it is mainlycomposed of paraffins, iso-paraffins, and naphthenes, as shown in TableIX. The amount of naphthenes in hydrocondensation diesel is twice theamount in ULSD, the amount of paraffins is ⅕, and aromatics are 1/10 ofthe amount in ULSD. This unique product distribution resulted inexcellent cold flow properties compared to ULSD. The cloud point andpour point of the distillate fraction were −66 and −70° F. indicatingthat this biomass based diesel fuel may be used at or below 60° F. Thecetane number of the hydrodeoxygenation-diesel measured through ablended IQT test is ˜58, superior to conventional ULSD. Other propertiessuch as density, API gravity, lubricity, heat of combustion, and totalacid number (TAN) are similar to that of ULSD. The distillation profile(T10, T50, and T90 points) also resembles that of ULSD. Furthermore, theamount of sulfur is <1 ppm. This superior quality on-spec diesel can bedirectly blended into the existing ULSD pool as a drop in fuel. Themeasured flash, pour and cloud point of distillate fraction are superiorto that of ULSD.

TABLE IX Diesel Fuel Properties Sample C Diesel Sample from Sample BDiesel Pilot A Diesel in Lab Plant Sample Sample Sample in Lab usingusing D Diesel E Diesel F Diesel using expected expected from from fromSpec ideal natural natural Pilot Pilot Pilot for No feed feed feed PlantPlant Plant 2 diesel Oxygen by 0.2 0.73 0.6 0 AED-O, wt % Oxygen by 1.870.96 0.45 combustion, wt % NOISE Paraffins, 7 4 6 3 3.6 1.7 wt % Isoparaffins, 18 16 15 7 8.2 5.2 wt % One ring 40 40 38 29 35.4 36.4naphthenes, wt % Two ring 30 31 29 32 30.4 44.43 naphthenes, wt % Threering 5 6 7 10 7.7 10.85 naphthenes, wt % Total 73.99 78.18 74 71 73.591.68 naphthenes Aromatics, 0.22 2 5 20 14.5 1.4 ~35% wt % C/H ratio0.51 0.51 0.52 0.55 0.54 0.53 Avg. 182 199 198.8 186.7 182.6 181.7molecular weight Cetane number 58 52.14 45.22 >40 by IQT D6890 Cloudpoint −74 −66 −76 <−76 <−76 D5773, ° F. Pour point −88 −70 <−60 (by<−70.6 <−70.6 D5949, ° F. D97) CFPP by >−60 −62.5 D6371, ° F. Flashpoint by 182 166.1 144 120 125 (min) D93 - closed cup, ° F. DensityD4052 0.8279 0.8275 0.8629 0.851 0.83297 @60 F., g/cc API Gravity 39.2539.33 32.32 34.61 38.21 D4052@60 F., deg API Copper strip 1a 1a 1a 3Corrosion by D130 Distillation by D86 (based on vol %) T10, ° F. 415.8390.6 375.4 369.3 T50, ° F. 452.8 446.4 437.2 431.1 T90, ° F. 593.7590.9 593.4 569.1 540 (min) 640 (max) SIMDIS D288Q7 (based on wt %) T10,° F. 414 398 365 347.1 337.5 T50, ° F. 489 456.7 463.5 439.2 425.1 T90,° F. 574 623.7 621.7 618.6 591.3 572 (min) 673 (max) Lubricity by D 361517 349 456 618.5 520 (max) 6079 (HFRR), micron Gross heat of 1994619333 19543 19807 combustion, Btu/lb Net heat of 18665 18200 18385 18569combustion, Btu/lb TAN by D664, 0.21 0 0.34 mg KOH/g Sulfur, ppm <1 <1<1 1 <1 15 Oxidative stability, hours Water and 0 0 0 0.05 (max) sediment, vol % Kinematic 2.271 1.857 1.9-4.1 viscosity at 40 C., mm2/sNa and K, 5.65 1.5 3 combined, ppmw Ca and Mg, 1.4 1.4 0.5 combined,ppmw Moisture, KF 91 64 titration, ppm Ash, wt % 0.006 <0.001 0.001 0.01(max)  Conradson <0.1 <0.1 carbon residue by D4530, wt % MSEP by 98D3948 Aromatics by 2.53 SFC D5186, area % Conc. Conc. Conc. Element(ppmw) (ppmw) (ppmw) Al 0.614 0.41 <0.144 Ba 0.486 0.583 <2.03 Ca 0.8540.992 <0.563 Cd 0.232 <1.07 <1.18 Cr 0.229 0.953 <0.994 Cu 0.245 0.335<2.05 Fe 0.753 0.809 <2.06 K 4.06 <1.09 <2.03 Mg 0.5 0.361 <0.046 Mn0.051 0.376 <1.69 Mo 0.846 0.565 <1.74 Na 1.59 0.466 <1.06 Ni 0.9220.588 <1.08 P 2.57 3.05 <0.611 Si 4.66 0.663 <1.55 Sr 0.572 0.52 Ti0.956 0.622 <1.74 V 0.69 0.28 <2.02 Zn 0.185 0.61 <0.024

Table X is a summary of gas oil properties showing the density, APIgravity, distillation ranges, and total acid for the hydrocondensationpurified gas oil. Gas oil produced by this process is well within theproperties of standard gas oils.

TABLE X Generalized properties of Gas Oil Fraction Density at 60 F.,g/cc 0.91-0.95 API Gravity, deg API 17-23 Oxygen from AED-O, wt % <0.2Simulated Distillation D2887, based on wt % of product T10, ° F. 578-711T50, ° F.   644-786.6 T90, ° F. 757-918 Total Acid Number by D664, mgKOH/g <0.07 NOISE analysis Paraffins, wt % 0-5 Iso paraffins, wt % 0-5One ring naphthenes, wt %  0-20 Two ring naphthenes, wt %  0-30 Threering naphthenes, wt %  5-30 Mono aromatics, wt %  8-35 Di aromatics, wt% 12-40 Tri aromatics, wt %  5-15 Tetra aromatics, wt % 0-4 KinematicViscosity at 104 F. by ASTM D445,  16-210 mm2/s (cSt) Refractive indexby D1218 at 67° C. 1.5132 D 2622 sulfur, wt % 0.0005 D 4530 CCR, wt %<0.21 D5762 total nitrogen, ppm <7 D 661 Aniline point, deg F. 119-138

Table XI below shows the properties for three specific samples of gasoil made by the Example 2 process.

TABLE XI Specific Gas Oil Properties Sample Sample Sample ComparativeComparative A Gas B Gas C Gas Vacuum Vacuum Oil Oil Oil Gas Oil 1 GasOil 2 Density at 60 F., g/cc 0.95 0.914 0.9538 API Gravity, deg API16.97 23.1 16.7 22.6 29.6 Oxygen from AED-O, 0.06 0.62 0.19 wt %Simulated Distillation D2887, based on wt % of product T10, ° F. 711.2578.4 701.8 576 548 T50, ° F. 786.6 644.7 784.7 801 728 T90, ° F. 901.7757.8 918 958 925 Total Acid Number by 0.05 0.06 0.07 D664, mg KOH/gNOISE analysis Paraffins, wt % 0 0.21 0.02 Iso paraffins, wt % 2 2.241.82 One ring naphthenes, 2.8 10.8 2.1 wt % Two ring naphthenes, 5.819.4 4.2 wt % Three ring naphthenes, 8.3 16.9 6.2 wt % Mono aromatics,wt % 27.35 9 35.1 Di aromatics, wt % 35.26 13.6 37 Tri aromatics, wt %15.58 12.2 12.5 Tetra aromatics, wt % 3 2 1 C/H ratio 0.64 0.59 0.64Avg. molecular weight 355.3 279.1 350.3 Kinematic Viscosity at 209.715.71 187.6 53.2 104 F. by ASTM D445, mm2/s (cSt) Refractive index by1.5132 1.4874 1.5132 D1218 at 67° C. D 2622 sulfur, wt % 0.0005 0.00050.202 0.0046 D 4530 CCR, wt % 0.21 <0.1 0.22 0.11 0 ICP (especially Niand V) see see see below below below D5762 total nitrogen, 2 7.7 6.43286 0.7 ppm D 661 Aniline point, deg 138 135.9 119.7 164.4 F. ppmw ppmwppmw Al 0.389 <0.397 1.36 Ba 0.554 <0.565 0.555 Ca 0.943 <0.962 0.945 Cd<1.01 1.03 1.02 Cr 0.905 <0.924 1.16 Cu 0.318 <0.325 0.319 Fe 1.38 4.2345.4 K <1.03 <1.05 1.03 Mg 0.343 <0.35 0.344 Mn 0.357 <0.365 0.383 Mo0.537 <0.548 0.538 Na 0.443 <0.452 0.444 Ni 0.558 <0.57 0.988 P 3.543.27 2.12 Si 231 73.8 151 Sr 0.494 <0.504 0.496 Ti 0.591 <0.603 0.593 V0.266 <0.272 0.267 Zn 0.579 0.79 9.11

In summary, a variety of fuel types may be generated and purified fromthe products of hydrocondensation and polishing. These fuels will allowproduction of fungible renewable fuel products that are stable,functional, and equivalent to current fuel products used. Analysis offuels produced demonstrates, unequivocally that these fuels haveproperties that are equivalent to or superior to fuel products on themarket today.

Example 3 Lifetime Testing at 270 and 340° C.

In describing the invention, efforts have also been undertaken to add tothe robustness of the process including efforts to extend the catalystlife, address issues related to the expected quality of the feedstock ascompared to an ideal feedstock that was used in early efforts to developthe technology of the present invention, and optimize the processregarding GHSV through the catalyst bed. The catalyst is exposed toexcessive amount of water during the first stage hydrotreating. Becausethe support of the catalyst is silica-alumina, it is important todetermine hydrothermal stability of the support at typical reactiontemperatures. To address this question, lifetime of Pt/Pd catalyst forhydrotreating 40 wt % sorbitol solution was studied at 270° C. and 340°C.

The catalyst showed constant conversion during sorbitol hydrotreating at270° C., as shown in FIG. 8. Sorbitol conversion began at 91% anddecreased to 88% during the first six days. After this equilibrationperiod, the activity remained constant at 86% conversion for 50 days.Organic products, both in liquid and vapor phases, retained 90% of theinlet carbon. The organic phase had 14 wt % oxygen in all samples fromday 1 to day 52 indicating significant quantities of oxygenates. Thedeactivation constant was 0.0023 per day that projects a half life>310days (Table XII). This suggests that a low-cost, fixed-bed processshould be feasible for sorbitol hydrotreating over Pt/Pd catalyst.

TABLE XII Comparison of deactivation constant and projected half life ofhydrocondensation-catalyst at 270 and 340° C. Temperature 270° C. 340°C. Time-on-stream (days) >50 15 Deactivation constant k_(d) (day⁻¹)0.002 0.08 Projected half life (days) >310 <30

The catalyst showed poor stability because feed coking problems whenoperated as a single stage hydrocondensation reactor at 340° C. Severedeactivation occurred, and the reactor plugged in 14 days (FIG. 8). Thedeactivation constant was 0.08 per day that predicts a half life of <30days (Table XII). Fixed-bed processes are typically not viable with a30-day lifetime. Hydrocondensation followed by hydrodeoxygenation at340° C. will achieve longer lifetimes than hydrocondensation at 340° C.due to the increased thermal stability afforded by hydrocondensation at270° C.

Example 4 Natural Biomass Oxygenate Conversion

A silica-alumina supported platinum-palladium (PtPd/SiO₂—Al₂O₃)hydrocondensation catalyst was used to convert biomass oxygenates tohydrocarbon fuel grade products. A polishing step using a conventionalhydrodeoxygenation catalyst further reduced oxygen content below 1%. Araw biomass derived sorbitol-xylitol (60 wt % total) feed was used as anoxygenate feedstock. Beside sugar alcohols, the feed consisted of 0.6 wt% oligosaccharides, 5 ppm of metals, and <1 ppm of sulfur. The detailedanalysis of the as received feed is shown in Table XIII. This feed wasdiluted to 40 wt % sugar alcohols using distilled water.

TABLE XIII Detailed analysis of raw corn fiber (60% dissolved solids)sugar alcohol feed Sugar alcohols Erythritol Xylitol Arabitol MannitolSorbitol Dulcitol Maltitol (wt %) (wt %) (wt %) (wt %) (wt %) (wt %) (wt%) 0.39 10.7 11 3.8 21 6.7 0.04 Metals P S Ni Mg Ca Na Mn (ppmw) (ppmw)(ppmw) (ppmw) (ppmw) (ppmw) (ppmw) 3.01 nd 1.93 0.057 0.12 1.91 0.094Residual sugars Levo- Maltose glucosan Sucrose Manose Glucose XyloseIsosorbide (ppmw) (ppmw) (ppmw) (ppmw) (ppmw) (ppmw) (ppmw) 143 997 4760 202 187 11,398

In the first stage, Pt/Pd extrudates diluted with alundum (1:2 weightratio) were packed in a ¾″ OD reactor. The catalyst was reduced in thepresence of hydrogen by following a standard reduction procedure aspreviously described. After reduction, the temperature was decreased to50° C. and the catalyst was wetted with the feed (introduced using anISCO syringe pump) for 2 hours at a liquid hourly space velocity of 3h⁻¹. Following this step, the reactor temperature was increased so thattemperatures in the top, middle, and bottom sections of the catalyst bedwere 270° C., 290° C. and 310° C., respectively. The pressure wasincreased to 1200 psig. No diesel was co-fed with sorbitol in theseexperiments while the flow of hydrogen was 250 sccm (hydrogen to sugaralcohol molar ratio of 30). The weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) usedin all experiments was 0.4 g feed/g cat/h. For each mass balance,products were collected for at least 24 h to ensure steady conversions.The off-gases from the reactor were analyzed using an Agilent 6890 GCequipped with two detectors (TCD and FID) and two columns (a Carboxencolumn for permanent gases and HP-1 column for hydrocarbons).

The liquid products collected were split into organic and aqueous phasesby gravity separation. The aqueous phase was analyzed for unreactedsorbitol by HPLC. Intermediate oxygenates in that phase were analyzed bythe total organic carbon (TOC) method and by GC. The organic phase wasanalyzed using combustion for elemental analysis. This organic phase wasfurther hydrotreated in a second stage using a hydrodeoxygenationcatalyst.

A conventional hydrodeoxygenation catalyst was used for second stagehydrotreating or polishing to reduce cracking selectivity and hydrotreatoxygenates. The catalyst was reduced in the presence of hydrogen priorto polishing of hydrocondensation products at 0.42 h⁻¹ WHSV, 330° C. and1200 psig. The resulting product was fractionated into naphtha,distillate, and gas oil fractions using a spinning band distillationcolumn. Separation of distillate fraction from the gas oil fraction wasconducted under vacuum (2 mmHg). The naphtha and distillate fractionswere characterized using combustion for elemental analysis, GC—AtomicEmission Detector (AED) for oxygen, Simulated Distillation by ASTM D2887 (SIMDIS), and Differential Scanning calorimetry for net and grossheats of combustion. Detailed Hydrocarbon Analysis (DHA) was used todetermine molecular types of naphtha fraction while NOISE was used fordistillate fraction. The distillate fraction was further analyzed todetermine its cloud point (by D5773), pour point (by D5949), density (byD4052), lubricity (by D6079), and cetane number (by IQT D6890). As theamount of distillate fraction available was not enough for a stand-alonecetane test, this product was blended with commercial ULSD (30/70 v/v)to generate a blended cetane number. The actual cetane number ofhydrocondensation distillate fraction was then calculated by excludingcontribution from ULSD.

The experiment successfully ran for 43 days (>1000 h) without anyplugging or pressure drop problems. The average mass balance throughoutthe experiment was 96%. The sugar alcohol (C5+C6 alcohols) conversionwas >99% throughout the run as shown in FIG. 13. As sugar alcoholconversion was >99%, this data was not useful in determining thedeactivation rate. Hence, carbon yield to hydrocarbons and oxygenates(obtained from Total Organic Carbon method) was used to determinecatalyst deactivation rate. As shown in FIG. 10, a small initialdeactivation was observed during the first 7 days of TOS. However, thecatalyst regained its activity and no changes in the activity wereobserved for the next 35 days. This indicated that the rate ofdeactivation after initial stabilization was <10%. The amount of oxygenin the organic product was 16% indicating a polishing step was necessaryto decrease the oxygen content below 1%. Nevertheless, the catalyst wasable to decrease the oxygen content from 52% in the feed to 16% in theproduct. Previous characterization data indicates that this intermediateproduct consists of mainly alcohols, ketones, and cyclic ethers withother molecules being C5-C20 hydrocarbons. A simulated distillationprofile of this intermediate product is shown in FIG. 11.

After hydrodeoxygenation of the organic product (obtained from the firststep) over conventional hydrodeoxygenation catalyst, the oxygen contentof the product decreased from 16% to 0.03%. The product did not containany sulfur. The overall carbon distribution (including first and secondstages) is shown in FIG. 12. About 60% of the carbon was present as C6+hydrocarbons while 13% of carbon was present as pentane. The light gasesfrom both stages included C1-C4 hydrocarbons and carbon oxides. About13% of inlet carbon was converted to carbon oxides, which most likely isan overestimated number due to analytical limitations. The overallhydrogen consumption (for both stages) was about 1400-1500 scf/bbl,about 30-40% lower than an hydrodeoxygenation-based process.

The true boiling point curve of the finished product obtained fromSIMDIS D2887 is shown in FIG. 11 along with the curve for intermediateproduct. After comparing the two boiling point curves, it appears thatthe nature of the curve for heavier molecules did not change indicatingoxygen was present predominantly as C5-C6 oxygenates. Thehydrocondensation process showed about 5% reduction in volume comparedto hydrodeoxygenation-based process, mainly due to the production ofhigher density naphtha and distillates. The C5-C6 volumetric yield was50% while diesel yield was 28%. These volumetric yields improve productvalue compared to a process that produces mostly light naphtha.

As seen earlier, the hydrocondensation-based process generates a productthat has higher value compared to the hexane-pentane product mixtureobtained from direct hydrodeoxygenation of feedstock in the presence ofdiesel process. Besides this, the hydrocondensation process also offerssome cost saving opportunities. The process does not require a dieselco-feed and all capital and operating costs related to this can beeliminated. The hydrogen exiting the reactor mainly consists of carbonoxides and C1-C4 hydrocarbons. This hydrogen, after a small purge, canbe recycled back to either sugar hydrogenation step or hydrotreatingstep. Also, the overall hydrogen consumption of this process is about30-40% lower than the hydrodeoxygenation-based process. Because of thesetwo reasons, the amount of fresh hydrogen required will be lower, whichwill decrease the cost of steam-methane reformer and may also improvethe life cycle analysis of the process.

Example 5 Effect of Space Velocity on Product Selectivity

Experiments were conducted feeding 40 wt % sorbitol in water over a bedof catalyst containing PtPd on a silica/alumina support at 270° C. anddifferent flow rates to generate products at sorbitol feed weight hourlyspace velocities (WHSV) between 0.4 and 3.5 h⁻¹. Hydrogen was also fedat a constant gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 416 h⁻¹. Gas phaseproducts were quantified using gas chromatography (GC). The organic andaqueous products generated were collected and fed to a bed of acommercial hydrotreating catalyst (second stage) operating in anon-sulfided form between 0.4 h⁻¹ and 0.8 h⁻¹ liquid feed WHSV alongwith hydrogen at 330° C. The second stage reduced product oxygen contentto less than 1 wt %. Additional experiments have operated the secondstage hydrotreating unit at space velocities up to 3.0 h⁻¹ using bothsulfided and non-sulfided commercial hydrotreating catalysts to achievethe same deoxygenation performance.

Yield (wt %) was calculated as the mass of product formed divided by thesum of the mass of sorbitol fed. Heavy naphtha products were defined asmaterial boiling between 180 and 380° F., distillate products weredefined as material boiling between 380 and 650° F., and gas oilproducts were defined as material boiling between 650 and 1000° F.

A plot of distillate product yield after deoxygenation by the secondstage catalyst versus WHSV contains two maxima (FIG. 14). The firstmaximum occurs near 1 h⁻¹ and produces between 5 and 6 wt % diesel andthe second occurs above 1.6 h⁻¹. Diesel formed at 3.1 h⁻¹ is derivedfrom both organic and aqueous phase intermediates that deoxygenate overthe second stage hydrotreating catalyst, whereas the diesel formed at 1h⁻¹ is primarily derived from the organic intermediate. Similar trendsand maxima are observed for the production of naphtha and gas oil. SeeFIG. 14 and Table XIV for a listing of yields at different conditionstested. All products produced had similar compositional propertiesregardless of the space velocities used.

TABLE XIV Yields of Naphtha, Diesel, and Gas oil at Different ConditionsYields 1st stage 2nd stage Heavy Gas space velocity space velocityNaphtha Distillate oil 0.39 0.44 2.02 4.52 0.45 0.59 0.45 2.34 3.95 0.360.80 0.80 4.67 6.32 0.48 1.00 0.57 3.90 5.87 0.54 1.17 0.49 4.10 5.930.26 1.30 0.42 1.11 2.31 0.25 1.56 0.42 1.04 1.79 0.10 2.34 0.42 1.673.50 0.35 2.73 0.41 1.16 2.76 0.35 3.12 0.41 1.96 4.03 0.67 3.51 0.410.96 2.51 0.32

Example 6 Production of Distillates Using Base Metal Catalyst

Experiments were conducted by feeding 40 wt % sorbitol in water to aconventional base metal hydroprocessing catalyst at 290° C. and at twodifferent sorbitol weight hourly space velocities (WHSV). Hydrogen wasalso fed at a constant gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 750 h⁻¹. Gasphase products were quantified using gas chromatography (GC). Theorganic products collected were analyzed using Simulated Distillation toquantify the amount of distillates (boiling between 380 to 680° F.)formed in the process.

As shown in FIG. 15, about 20 wt % of the organic product was boiling inthe distillate range at 0.6 and 1.2 h⁻¹ space velocities. Naphtha andfuel range molecules were also produced using base metal catalysts.

Example 7 Temperature Graded Reactor

A temperature graded bed approach was used to decrease the oxygencontent of feed in a single pass and produce fungible hydrocarbon fuels.Sorbitol was used as the model compound to represent cellulosicalcohols. As shown in FIG. 9C, the beginning of the fixed bed catalyticreactor (a) may be at a lower temperature (260-270° C.), the middle ofthe reactor (c) at intermediate temperature (290-300° C.), and the endof the reactor (e) may be at a higher temperature (320-340° C.). Thisenables conversion of intermediates formed in the top of the reactor tofinal hydrocarbon products. The catalyst used in the present inventionis a commercial PtPd/SiO₂—Al₂O₃ catalyst. Before the reaction, thecatalyst was reduced at 450° C. for 15 h. The reaction was carried outat 1200 psig. The inlet feed consisted of 40 wt % sorbitol in water andhydrogen gas.

Temperature may be graded across one or more reactors that contain oneor more catalysts. In one embodiment a single reactor contains a gradedtemperature from 260 to 340° C. with the temperature increasing acrossthe catalyst. In another embodiment one reactor is maintained between260-270° C., a subsequent reactor is maintained between 290-300° C. anda final reactor is maintained between 320-340° C. Reactors may behydrocondensation or hydrodeoxygenation reactors. In one embodiment asingle graded reactor contains multiple catalysts and temperature zones.As shown in FIG. 9C, the reactor may contain a guard material (a) toprotect the hydrocondensation catalyst (b), a separation material (c)followed by an hydrodeoxygenation catalyst and a retaining material (e).Heating maintains the hydrocondensation catalyst (b) between 250-300° C.and the hydrodeoxygenation catalyst between 320-340° C. Alternatively,separate reactors may be run in series with the first hydrocondensationreactor maintained between 260-270° C., a second optionalhydrocondensation reactor maintained between 290-300° C., and a thirdhydrodeoxygenation reactor maintained between 320-340° C. It may bepossible to provide to maintain one or more reactors under a variety oftemperature regimes, dependent upon the quantity, volume and source ofthe biomass oxygenates.

In one example, sorbitol conversion was above 92% during a 33 days TOSexperiment. The initial conversion dropped from 98% to 93% at the end of33 days indicating a small deactivation. The elemental oxygen in theorganic products was <1 wt % during the first 7 days of TOS while theconcentration stabilized around 5 wt % at steady-state. Thisdemonstrates a dramatic reduction in the amount of oxygen present,oxygen content was reduced from 52 wt % to <5 wt % in products in asingle pass. The organic product with the least amount of oxygen (˜5000ppmw) was analyzed to determine its nature. The detailed hydrocarbonanalysis indicated that a majority of the product was in distillaterange (C9+). The simulated distillation analysis (SIMDIS by D 2887)supported results of detailed hydrocarbon analysis. According to SIMDISdata, 36 wt % products were boiling in gasoline-range while 61% were indistillate-range. This demonstrates an ability to convert raw biomassoxygenates into fungible naphtha and distillate range fuel products thatmay be incorporated directly into existing fuel streams or used forblending with lower quality fuels to make higher quality blends.

As a comparison of hydrocondensation with efforts to simply removeoxygen from oxygenates derived from biomass and does not attempt tocreate carbon-carbon bonds to create longer chain hydrocarbons Table XVshows the overall product yields from a hydrodeoxygenation alone processand hydrocondensation alone process. For the hydrocondensation process,on a carbon basis, 6% of inlet carbon was converted to light gases, 46%to light naphtha, 21% to heavy naphtha, and 10% to distillates. Incomparison, the hydrodeoxygenation alone process made more light gasesand did not make heavy naphtha and distillates.

TABLE XV Comparison of Hydrodeoxygenation alone with HydrocondensationProcess Carbon yields (%) Hydrodeoxygenation Hydrocondensation A Lightgases (C1-C4) 25  6 Light naphtha (C5-C6) 74 46 Heavy naphtha (C7-C10) 021 Distillate (C11-C18) 0 10 Carbon Dioxide 1  3 Oxygenates 0  14**Oxygenates may be recycled to the feedstock.

These results indicate that the hydrocondensation using Pt/Pd orconventional hydrodeoxygenation catalyst increases product value over ahexane-pentane product mixture obtained using hydrodeoxygenation alonein the presence of diesel. The process does not require diesel co-feed,which may reduce operating cost. Furthermore, sulfur is completelyeliminated from this process. This enables recycling of hydrogen withlittle purification. All these benefits indicate the increased value ofthis process.

In closing, it should be noted that the discussion of any reference isnot an admission that it is prior art to the present invention,especially any reference that may have a publication date after thepriority date of this application. At the same time, each and everyclaim below is hereby incorporated into this detailed description orspecification as an additional embodiment of the present invention.

Although the systems and processes described herein have been describedin detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions,and alterations can be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention as defined by the following claims. Those skilled inthe art may be able to study the preferred embodiments and identifyother ways to practice the invention that are not exactly as describedherein. It is the intent of the inventors that variations andequivalents of the invention are within the scope of the claims whilethe description, abstract and drawings are not to be used to limit thescope of the invention. The invention is specifically intended to be asbroad as the claims below and their equivalents.

REFERENCES

All of the references cited herein are expressly incorporated byreference. The discussion of any reference is not an admission that itis prior art to the present invention, especially any reference that mayhave a publication date after the priority date of this application.Incorporated references are listed again here for convenience:

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1. A renewable gas oil derived at least in part from biomass comprising:from 0 to 5 weight percent n-paraffins, from 0 to 5 weight percentiso-paraffins, from 5 to 50 weight percent naphthenes, from 0 to 20weight percent 1-ring naphthenes, from 0 to 30 weight percent 2-ringnaphthenes, from 5 to 30 weight percent 3-ring naphthenes, and from 30to 85 weight percent aromatics.
 2. The renewable gas oil according toclaim 1 comprising at least 10 weight percent naphthenes.
 3. Therenewable gas oil according to claim 1 comprising at least 15 weightpercent naphthenes.
 4. The renewable gas oil according to claim 1comprising at least 20 weight percent naphthenes.
 5. The renewable gasoil according to claim 1 comprising at least 25 weight percentnaphthenes.
 6. The renewable gas oil according to claim 1 comprising nomore than 45 weight percent naphthenes.
 7. The renewable gas oilaccording to claim 1 comprising no more than 40 weight percentnaphthenes.
 8. The renewable gas oil according to claim 1 comprising nomore than 35 weight percent naphthenes.
 9. The renewable gas oilaccording to claim 1 comprising no more than 30 weight percentnaphthenes.
 10. The renewable gas oil according to claim 1 comprising atleast 15 weight percent naphthenes and no more than 30 weight percentnaphthenes.
 11. The renewable gas oil according to claim 1 comprising atleast 10 weight percent 3-ring naphthenes.
 12. The renewable gas oilaccording to claim 1 comprising no more than 25 weight percent 3-ringnaphthenes.
 13. The renewable gas oil according to claim 1 comprising nomore than 20 weight percent 3-ring naphthenes.
 14. The renewable gas oilaccording to claim 1 comprising at least 5 weight percent 2-ringnaphthenes.
 15. The renewable gas oil according to claim 1 comprising nomore than 25 weight percent 2-ring naphthenes.
 16. The renewable gas oilaccording to claim 1 comprising no more than 20 weight percent 2-ringnaphthenes.
 17. The renewable gas oil according to claim 1 comprising nomore than 15 weight percent 2-ring naphthenes.
 18. The renewable gas oilaccording to claim 1 comprising no more than 15 weight percent 1-ringnaphthenes.